Breaking Our Chains
by Return Of The Nightmare
Summary: After the attack on Arthur, Sirius and Remus notice something strange is up. Watch as the dogs and Harry regain control over their lives. Evil!Dumbles, Cursed!Riddle, Certain Weasley!Bashing, Stupid!Fudge, mentions of severe abuse. No pairings.


**A/N**: Apparently I didn't give enough warnings, so...

**WARNINGS:** Contains mentions of child abuse, child neglect, child molestation, child rape (or are they the same thing?), child prostitution (I believe that's what it's called?), violence, and what can be inferred to as self-harm. Although the only case in which you won't realize what it is would be if you'd never heard of such a thing. Oh yes, and there are some depressing thoughts here. Well, this was the product of two depressive phases (except for the Fudge bit).

Er... Hope that was enough. Tell me if I missed anything.

* * *

><p>When Harry woke up, at first he wondered where the hell he was. The worn wooden ceiling above him seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite put a name to it. The dusty air smelled as though it were from an old, abandoned house that had only recently begun to be inhabited in once more. For a brief moment, he panicked, convinced he'd been kidnapped and shoved in the Shrieking Shack, but then he remembered the night before.<p>

Last night, he'd had a nightmare where Arthur Weasley was being attacked by a snake, from the snake's point of view. Once he'd told the headmaster, he and the Weasleys had been sent to Grimmauld Place, Sirius' 'home'. He was currently lying in bed in the same room as his best friend, Ronald Weasley.

Only now did he hear his friend's signature snores, and for a moment, he allowed himself to remain simply amused by the fact that he was so used to waking up to that noise that he never even noticed it anymore, even though it was one of the most irritating sounds he'd ever heard. Aunt Petunia's voice probably came first, tied with Umbridge's, but even as he tried to force himself to just think about that, the memory of the vision he'd had kept coming back in flashes.

He knew it wasn't his fault. He wasn't the snake, but by Merlin had it felt like he was. He'd felt everything the snake had, the bloodlust, the hunger, the bloodthirsty pleasure at Mr Weasley's fear. He couldn't help but wonder if he could have stopped it. Maybe if he'd been stronger, he could have got the snake to kill itself. He didn't care if there was a chance it could have killed him too, not if it meant the nice man Harry knew was unharmed. For, subconsciously, Harry blamed himself for all of it.

That wasn't his fault either, though. The Dursleys were to blame for that, even if Harry didn't consciously know it.

Sighing quietly as he realised he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep, Harry slowly and quietly got out of his bed and headed downstairs, hoping to find his godfather. It was fairly early in the morning, and there was a high chance Sirius would be up already after a night of Azkaban nightmares.

Harry felt relieved when he realised Sirius' door was ajar, and when he peeked inside, no one was in there. It meant Harry might have some company, but just to be sure, he checked the nearest bathroom as well. The door was wide open, so Harry made his way to the place he felt his godfather would most likely be – the kitchen; the place with the firewhiskey.

He poked his head through the kitchen door shyly, smiling slightly when he realised they were alone, and that Sirius had barely even touched the alcohol. "Hey, Sirius," he said softly.

Sirius' head snapped up from where he'd been staring at nothing, and at the sight of his godson, his face broke into one of his rare, genuine smiles and his eyes seemed to light up. "Harry! Here, have a seat," he exclaimed, patting his hand on the chair next to him, subtly drawing it a little closer to himself. Once Harry was seated, Sirius shoved his firewhiskey away and stared at his godson. "What are you doing up so late, anyway?"

"Couldn't get back to sleep," Harry said, doing his best to smile, even though his thoughts had returned to the vision he'd had.

Sirius' face turned serious – no pun intended. "Nightmares?" he asked, quietly. Upon seeing Harry's shy and slightly hesitant nod, he wrapped an arm around the green eyed boy's shoulders. "Me too," he whispered, moving his hand to stroke his godson's hair. "Fancy exchanging nightmare stories?"

Harry stiffened, something that didn't go unnoticed by Sirius. He never spoke about his nightmares, and although he had heard that confiding your troubles with others makes dealing with them easier, he never had. The sounds just wouldn't come out of his mouth. After all, what if they decided he was a freak and used it against him?

Noticing the boy's silence, Sirius gently turned Harry's head to face him. "You know you can trust me, right? Me and Moony, both of us. You're more important to us than anything else, Harry."

The man imprisoned in his own house saw in Harry's eyes that although he seemed to trust him, there was some form of doubt, worry, and something that worried him; fear. A memory of those eyes some fourteen years ago came back to him. Back then, Harry had looked at him with blind trust, you could see it in those eyes. He would do anything if Sirius thought it was for the best, because he _just knew_-

Sirius' eyes widened, and Harry felt his godfather's hand tremble slightly as it held his face. "Sirius?" he inquired, suddenly worried about more than his nightmares. Had he done something wrong? Had he insulted him? "Sirius, I'm sorry. Did I do something wrong?"

Sirius shook his head wildly, as if to shake off a nasty thought, flicking his hair all over the place in the process. He returned to looking at Harry, only this time his eyes weren't wide with surprise and disbelief. They were _concerned_. "No, you did nothing wrong Harry," he said, running a hand through his hair before performing a spell to check they were alone and that everyone else was in their rooms. "But something is, definitely, wrong. Stay here, I need to contact Remus."

Running to the fire place, Sirius was about to grab some floo powder to floo call his friend, but then a thought struck him and he checked the fireplace for monitoring spells. Finding one, he quickly removed it and checked the room for them, sighing in relief when he realised that this time there were none.

Seeing Harry's questioning look, Sirius smiled slightly. "Someone put a monitoring spell on the fireplace. There weren't any on the room, though." The long haired man then grabbed some floo powder and bent over to make a floo call. Not long later, Remus' dishevelled face appeared.

"Sirius? What happened?" the werewolf asked, seeing Sirius' unusually serious face.

"Come on through and I'll tell you," Sirius said, moving away from the fire. Moments later, the worn man stumbled through and patted ash off of his robes. Seeing his friend's questioning gaze, Sirius glanced at Harry. "Both of you follow me. And be quiet, we don't know who's in on this." He said softly.

Remus and Harry exchanged a confused and worried glance before following Sirius up the stairs and into his bedroom, where Harry was mildly creeped out by the pictures of muggle girls in bikinis. Sirius sat on the edge of his bed, and gestured for the other two to either sit next to him or take the seat at his desk, which Harry took.

Sirius checked the room for unwanted spells – none of which he found – and renewed the privacy wards before turning back to his godson and friend. Seeing Remus' raised eyebrow, he took a deep breath and began. "Remus, you remember how when Harry was just a baby he 'just knew' who was trustworthy or not?"

"Yes, but I don't see what you're getting-" Remus began, but then he paled dramatically and his head swivelled towards Harry. "He doesn't 'just know' anymore"

"Exactly," Sirius said, sounding slightly panicked. "Remus, you know that doesn't just happen."

Remus shook his head, still staring at Harry, who was beginning to feel uncomfortable about the staring. "That ability stays for life. It doesn't just fade away like that."

"Guys," Harry interrupted, beginning to worry in many ways. "What are you talking about?"

Sirius turned to face Harry, his jaw clenched in worry. "Harry, you were born with a Seer-related ability known as 'just knowing'. It's not exactly common, and like the name says, it allows you to 'just know' specific things. For some people it'll be something useless like knowing what type of wood planks are made of, or how many times someone's shat that day." Sirius felt a small smile creep onto his face at the sight of Harry's disgusted grimace at this last statement. "Other times, it's something much more useful – although these cases are rather rare - like knowing what your food is made of, or what someone's intentions are."

"You, Harry, 'just knew' whether someone was trustworthy or not," Remus carried on for Sirius. "For example, you always grinned when you saw Padfoot, but stayed completely still or started crying when, say, a Death Eater would come by."

Harry frowned. "But, if I was able to do that, why didn't you use it to find out who the traitor was?"

"We have no idea, Harry," Remus said, running his hand through his hair. "I don't know about Padfoot, but whenever Wormtail came around it was like I forgot you had that ability, and never stopped to ponder why you, a normally very cheerful baby, would start crying whenever he would turn up or be mentioned."

"Do you think Voldemort knew about my ability? Do you think he did something to make you not realise Wormtail was the traitor?" Harry asked, paling. There had been more to his parents' deaths than he had thought.

Sirius shook his head. "We know for a fact that the only ones who knew of your ability were me, Moony, Prongs, Lily and Dumbledore. I suppose Wormtail never learned because we seemed to forget about it whenever he was around or mentioned. We never even realised."

"There may even be a chance," Remus said softly, looking down at the floor with a look of despair on his face. "That I was made to completely forget about it after James and Lily's deaths. After all, I came to trust Severus slightly even though you obviously didn't, Harry."

Harry stared at the two of them, confused. "But… if I had an ability like that, I would have noticed, surely? I would have known from the start that Scabbers was a traitor."

"That's another thing we're worried about, Harry," Sirius said, looking into Harry's eyes. "That ability doesn't just disappear. Something must have blocked it."

"Blocked it?" Harry said in disbelief.

"Blocked it," Sirius confirmed. "And if that was blocked, then just what else was?"

The room was silent for a while. Sirius was holding his hands together whilst staring at the carpet by Harry's feet in deep thought. Remus stared straight at the wall, trying to figure the question out. Harry's eyes flickered between the two canines, wide with worry, his face pale. Someone had blocked an incredibly useful ability of his, and they didn't know if they'd blocked more. He knew precious little on blocks, but he knew enough to realise that his full potential would never be achieved unless they were taken off.

Moony's head suddenly snapped to look Harry in the eye. "It's like his magic hasn't grown since he was a baby." The werewolf whispered.

His godfather jerked out of his musings and stared at Remus, suddenly paler. "Oh god, Remus," he whispered, voice trembling. "That's dangerous! All that power-"

"Wait, this is how powerful I was as a baby?" Harry exclaimed.

Sirius smiled sadly. "Yeah. The healer was so convinced you'd be the next Merlin that your mum had to obliviate him."

Remus shook his head and snorted. "And that was _before_ you turned into a bird and-"

Silence filled the room once more as the last Marauders looked at each other in horror. "He was a natural animagus," Sirius said softly, looking down into his lap. "He used to transform and sleep on Prongs' or my back." He shook his head in frustration before looking at Harry with a determined yet frightened look in his eyes. "Harry, have you ever turned into a bird, to your memory?"

At Harry's shake of head, the dog animagus swore and punched his duvet. Remus rubbed his tired face with his hands. "Okay, so that's probably blocked as well," he sighed. "What else are we going to find out? How are we meant to sort this out, Sirius?"

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "St. Mungos is out. We don't know if Madam Pomfrey is in on this…" he sighed and held his head in his hands. Suddenly, his head snapped up as though he'd had an epiphany. He smiled at his worried friend and godson. "I know where we can go."

* * *

><p>Harry sat nervously in his chair. As soon as the Weasleys left to visit Mr Weasley in hospital that day, Remus and Sirius had used the floo to get him to the house of one of Sirius' cousins, one Andromeda Tonks, mother of Nymphadora. She knew of Sirius' innocence through her daughter, but while she was on the 'light' side of the war, she didn't bother with the Order because she didn't like Dumbledore.<p>

Currently, Harry was wedged between Remus and Sirius on a sofa in the Tonks' living room with the curtains drawn and privacy wards up, Andromeda sitting across from them listening to his canine guardians' explanation of how they supposed Harry had some sort of magical block placed on him. Andromeda Tonks used to be a healer at St. Mungos, and she was the best option for help they had, since they knew her place in the world.

By the time his guardians had finished their explanation, Andromeda had a frown on her face. "It's a good thing you came here. There is most definitely something fishy about this," she said, and began biting her lip. "Harry, I was not aware of your ability, but I do remember how you seemed to be an important part of your parents' decision to allow me in on the secret of their location when they went into hiding. There is a fairly simple spell I can perform to reveal any blocks and spells that may have been placed on you, if that is acceptable?"

Harry nodded. The idea that someone had stopped him from accessing a rather handy ability he had upset him greatly, and the ability to 'just know' would definitely be handy.

Andromeda turned towards Remus and Sirius. "I'll also perform the spell on you two, if that's okay with you?" She asked, although there was no surprise in the room when they both agreed. "You will need to stand up; you can't touch each other."

Once they were all standing and separate (Sirius made a point of giving Harry a big hug first), she waved her wand at each of them. Each time she did so, a sheet of parchment and a self-writing quill appeared in front of her. The two on the sides finished fairly quickly, and were only met by a small scowl (although Sirius' seemed to get a slight smirk), whereas Harry's kept on going, Andromeda's scowl gradually turning into rage as it went on.

When it was finally done, she handed them out to the individuals, muttering something about getting some coffee and a cake. Upon seeing his rather long list, Harry paled.

_Name: Harry James Potter_

_Age: 15_

_Blocks:_

_Inner-Eye Block (suppressing 'just know' ability) – Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Mind Magics Block (prevents occlumency usage) - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Intelligence Dampener - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 03/09/91_

_Focus Dampener (suppressing Natural Animagus ability and contributing to Mind Magics Block and Intelligence Dampener) - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Metamorph Block - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 24/08/87_

_Lust Block - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_B-type Magic Block - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Spells:_

_Tracking Charm - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Muggle Repelling Charm (overpowered) - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Health Monitoring Charm - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Emotion Tracking Charm - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Guilt Inducing Charm (set to slowly increase through age)- Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Other:_

_Blocked Memories (Obliviate) - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, various dates. Gilderoy Lockhart, 14/02/93_

_Suppressed Memories – Harry James Potter, various dates._

_Notes:_

_-B-Type Magic Block combined with severe mental and physical trauma caused blocked magic to grow faster and larger than normal_

_-Blocked magic causing unnatural bouts of anger as of age 14_

_-Blocked magic predicted to begin causing mental damage at age 16_

_-Blocked magic predicted to become lethal at age 17_

As Harry was staring in disbelief at the number of times Dumbledore's name had come up, a choked noise came from beside him. He turned towards Sirius to ask what he'd seen, but he was cut off. "BLOODY – I WONDERED WHY I COULDN'T GET HORNY!" Sirius yelled.

"You got the Lust Block too, then?" Harry asked.

His horrified godfather looked at him with a distraught look on his face. "Oh my sweet godson, you mean you're fifteen years old and never masturbated?"

Harry stared at his godfather with wide, bulging eyes. "I-Well, no," Harry stuttered, feeling ever so slightly awkward.

"I don't have one," Came the slightly upset sound of Remus' voice.

Sirius was the one to be wide eyed now. "You – Remus, you're a girl?" He exclaimed, horrified. "Where are your boobies?"

"No, I was saying I don't have a Lust Block! Not a dick," Remus snapped. "Dumbledore obviously thinks that I didn't need one."

"You know, that's actually quite insulting," Sirius said, frowning. "Trade parchment?"

They all switched their reviews round, and reading the others', Harry couldn't help but feel a little jealous at how short their lists were.

_Name: Sirius Orion Black_

_Blocks:_

_Lust Block - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 23/06/94_

_Mind Magics Block (prevents occlumency)- Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 23/06/94_

_Spells:_

_Tracking Charm - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 23/06/94_

_Specified Notice-Me-Not Charm (locked towards Harry Potter's blocked abilities) - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 23/06/94_

_Specified Notice-Me-Not Charm (locked towards ways in which subject could fight for his innocence) – Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 23/06/94_

_Specified Notice-Me-Not Charm (locked towards ways in which subject could gain custody of Harry James Potter) - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 23/06/94_

_Other:_

_Blocked Memories (Dementor Exposure)_

_Name: Remus John Lupin_

_Blocks:_

_Intelligence Dampener (weak) - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Mind Magics Block (weakens occlumency) - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 26/08/93_

_Spells:_

_Tracking Charm - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Muggle Repelling Charm (overpowered) - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Specified Notice-Me-Not Charm (locked towards Harry Potter's blocked abilities) - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 01/11/81_

_Specified Notice-Me-Not Charm (locked towards ways in which subject could gain custody of Harry James Potter) - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore,01/11/81_

_Other:_

_Blocked Memories (Obliviate) - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, various dates_

Andromeda walked back into the room with a tray of three cups, a jug of coffee, and a _lot _of cake as Harry finished reading. "I assume you'll want the tracking charms removed first?"

The three nodded, and Remus cast a glance at Harry. "Dumbledore's more likely to check on Harry though, so it may be best to do his first, then Sirius."

"Why me?"

"You're closer to Harry, Sirius, even Ron can see that." Remus said with an amused smile.

"And while you were having this conversation, I removed your tracking charms," Andromeda said dryly. "Do you want all of these removed?" Harry nodded frantically, making the adults in the room chuckle. "I honestly don't blame you, Harry. Since your list is so long, would you like me to split it into four sessions? We can still do it all within the next half-hour, you can just have a bit of time to get used to everything new bit by bit."

Sirius grinned at Harry. "Ah, my godson. Soon thou shall know the pleasures of-"

"Indecent, Padfoot." Remus groaned.

* * *

><p>Nearly half an hour later, it was Harry's last turn with Andromeda. Sirius had come after his first session, and had only just come back from the bathroom, to which he had fled to in delight once his Lust Block had been taken away. Everyone knew what he had been doing, and had merely given him amused and knowing looks when he returned, unnaturally cheerful.<p>

Pretty much all of the blocks and spells that had been placed on Harry had been removed. He had spent a good deal of time messing around with his metamorphmagus powers, and had spent a good few minutes in his natural animagus form – some kind of bird of prey, but no one in the room was particularly knowledgeable on birds (and they'd forgotten what Lily had called him), so they just referred to him as a scary meat-eating bird.

Now, all that was left to sort out were the blocked and suppressed memories. Harry was actually rather scared of this. For one, Dumbledore was obviously not the saint everyone made him out to be, and any memory he'd blocked had to be bad. Remus had looked particularly pissed after his were unblocked, after all. Secondly, he'd been obliviated by Lockhart on Valentine's Day. That just screamed 'DANGER'. Finally, he was absolutely terrified at the notion that some things he'd experienced were so bad that he suppressed memory of them.

But what he was doing was for the best. According to Andromeda, when you have a large amount of memories under memory charms memories can accidentally 'slip' into the suppression field, joining the memories under the charm. Apparently this is how Muggles become forgetful. Another thing was that while his suppressed memories were inaccessible to him, there was a high chance that he would still react like he had them at times. She said that suppressing memories can cause high amounts of stress or detachment, although she was uncertain whether it works like that for muggles, having only treated magical folk with such issues before.

And so, here he was, sitting across from Andromeda with Sirius and Remus on either side of him again, hands on his shoulders to show support. He watched as Andromeda's wand moved, and suddenly, memories overwhelmed him.

He remembered his days with his parents, and a young Sirius and Remus. Neville had come to visit often, as had the Tonks'. Susan Bones came by a few times, too. But then he woke up one night to find an old man with sparkly blue eyes looking down on him. _Obliviate._

He remembered each and every one of Dumbledore's visits to Privet Drive. He asked Harry questions. Called him a hero. Said how he had to stay with his loving relatives so he could save the world. Told his uncle he had free roam when it came to treating Harry. _Obliviate._

He remembered how from the age of four his uncle would seize scarce opportunities where no one else was in to drag him out of his cupboard and 'play' with him. How he had opened the cupboard door one day when he was eight and said "Big enough at last." He remembered what had caused his behind to hurt so badly for days on end.

He remembered how his uncle used to loan him to strange, creepy men, and sometimes women, so they could use him as their toy. He remembered how he would do everything they said out of fear.

He remembered how a group of teenage boys had assaulted him on the way 'home' from school one day. He remembered how he had been woken up, bloody and naked, by an angry police officer. He remembered how she didn't believe him when he told her what had happened, how she had accused him of being an attention seeker. He remembered his uncle's following punishment for not only being late home, but for losing his clothes somewhere and bothering the police.

He remembered all the times Remus, Professor McGonagall, Amelia Bones, Andromeda Tonks, Neville's grandmother and Professor Flitwick had tried to visit him, to save him, only to be sent back by Dumbledore. _Obliviate_.

He remembered how he had accidentally walked in on Dumbledore and Ron talking during Christmas break in first year. How Ron had whined to Dumbledore about how he didn't get paid enough to pretend to be friends with the 'boring, freaky, annoying and troublesome Boy-Who-Lived' who was probably going to get him killed soon. _Obliviate_.

He remembered how a few months later Neville had confronted him, frantically whispering about how he'd heard Ron and Hermione whine about how boring and irritating Harry was, and how he would never even have friends if they weren't getting paid to be. _Obliviate_.

He remembered how he'd walked in on Lockhart forcibly tearing a blonde seventh year's robes off on Valentine's Day. How he'd become the fraud's 'dessert'. _Obliviate_.

He remembered the 'fun' his Aunt Marge used to share between herself, Uncle Vernon and he. How she used to bring chains and manacles to tie him up in the basement, how she brought various other 'toys' for him as well.

He remembered how he'd walked in on Ron and Hermione in an abandoned classroom in third year, saying how pathetic he was to be a wizard and yet unable to defend himself from a mere muggle. How he deserved whatever it was the muggles did to him. _Obliviate_.

He remembered how he'd found out in a book in the library that he didn't actually have to participate in the Tournament. The magical contract was only signed upon participation of the first task. He confronted Dumbledore in his office. _Obliviate_.

He remembered how during the first few days back at the Dursleys after fourth year Dudley began to join in on the 'fun'.

He remembered all the times he'd been called up to the headmaster's office, not knowing that he would only be there so Dumbledore could have 'fun'. _Obliviate_.

When he finally came back to the land of the living after what had felt like a life time to him, but was in reality but a few minutes, the first thing he heard was screaming. Horrible, anguished screaming. His own, he realised.

Once he'd stopped screaming, he realised he was crying and sobbing, and that he was in someone's arms. Someone was rocking him back and forth, and two voices were offering comforting words to him. He felt the soothing touch of someone's hand caress his cheek.

Harry opened his eyes to find himself held close in Sirius' arms, with his terrified grey eyes looking into his own. Remus was kneeling on his other side, holding Harry's hands and stroking them gently. It had been Sirius stroking his cheek, he realised, and he still was. He rather enjoyed it after all those years spent lonely. He 'just knew' that these two would be there for him no matter what, that they would not knowingly betray him.

"How are you doing, pup?" Sirius murmured, moving his hand to stroke through Harry's hair.

"Better than a few seconds ago," Harry croaked truthfully. He still felt dirty, but he doubted that would go away any time soon, and felt truly happy knowing that not only were Remus and Sirius trustworthy, but that they genuinely cared about him.

Sirius smiled sadly at him, tears appearing in his eyes. "You don't have to mention anything painful just yet, pup. Let's wait until you're ready for that," he took a deep breath. "Was there anything important?"

Harry shakily mentioned anything not to do with the 'fun' various people had had with him that he felt was important. How Dumbledore knew of his situation and encouraged it, how he was paying Ron and Hermione to be his 'friends'. How he remembered all the times Remus and others had tried to visit him.

"I remember that now too, Harry," Remus said softly. "I wanted to kill those Dursleys every single time I laid my eyes on you."

Sirius leaned forwards and kissed him on the forehead. "You're safe now, puppy. I won't let them hurt you."

* * *

><p>A good twenty minutes later, Harry was as calm as he could be, considering the situation. He desperately wanted a shower, but couldn't without the others finding out. He knew he'd have to tell them, just… he'd prefer it if he was alone with Sirius and Remus first.<p>

They were sitting on the sofa once again, although this time he was a lot closer to the other two men and they both had an arm round him. Andromeda had told them there was one more test she felt they should take, considering the amount of blocks and spells on them.

"If you have blocks and spells on you, there's a damn good chance you've been dosed with potions, too," she'd said upon seeing their confused glances. "The test is as simple as the last, but I'll need the antidotes to sort it out. Of course, some potions require regular doses, but some have relatively permanent effects. These are the ones we'll need antidotes for, whether I can find them or not. The others we might be able to wait until they wear off."

"Do we need to stand again?" Sirius had asked.

"Yes, same as last time."

Once again, Sirius made a show of giving Harry a hug before he moved away from him slightly, and yet again, quills began scratching. Andromeda's look of disgust bothered Harry, and he turned towards his godfather, who gave him a reassuring smile.

When the quills were finished, the healer sighed and handed them over. "I'll get refills." She muttered as the boys sat down, Sirius wasting no time in wrapping an arm round his thin godson.

_Name: Harry James Potter_

_Potions in effect:_

_Loyalty Potion (aimed towards Weasley family) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Loyalty Potion (aimed towards Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Loyalty Potion (weak, aimed towards Hermione Jean Granger) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Oblivious Potion (aimed towards questionable behaviour of Molly Weasley) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Oblivious Potion (aimed towards questionable behaviour of Ronald Bilius Weasley) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Oblivious Potion (aimed towards questionable behaviour of Ginerva Molly Weasley) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Oblivious Potion (aimed towards questionable behaviour of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Oblivious Potion (aimed towards questionable behaviour of Hermione Jean Granger) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Relationship Anti-Felix (exception: Ginerva Molly Weasley) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Love Potion (extremely mild: aimed towards Ginerva Molly Weasley) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Trust Potion (aimed towards Molly Weasley) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

Harry gaped at the paper. He'd known that the listed people weren't trustworthy anymore, but having a list of drugs they'd fed him to alter his feelings… He turned to Sirius, who was scowling at his own paper. "Sirius?"

The man's head snapped to his, giving him a tiny smile. "Fancy trading, Harry?" he said with false cheer, and Harry began to worry seriously. He hadn't been that affected by his list, so just what was on Sirius'?

_Name: Sirius Orion Black_

_Potions in effect:_

_Loyalty Potion (mild: aimed towards Weasley family) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Loyalty Potion (aimed towards Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Loyalty Potion (moderate, aimed towards Hermione Jean Granger) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Oblivious Potion (aimed towards questionable behaviour of Molly Weasley) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Oblivious Potion (aimed towards questionable behaviour of Ronald Bilius Weasley) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Oblivious Potion (aimed towards questionable behaviour of Ginerva Molly Weasley) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Oblivious Potion (aimed towards questionable behaviour of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Oblivious Potion (aimed towards questionable behaviour of Hermione Jean Granger) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Repelling Potion (moderate: aimed towards Harry James Potter) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Repelling Potion (mild: aimed towards Remus John Lupin) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Repelling Potion (moderate: aimed towards Andromeda Tonks) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

_Hallucinogenic Confusion Potion (brewed to make subject see Harry James Potter as James Charlus Potter every now and then) – Brewed by Molly Weasley_

Harry's head snapped up to Sirius, who was scowling at Harry's list. "They've been stopping you from becoming too close to me, haven't they?"

In answer to the question, Sirius sighed and pulled Harry closer towards him, leaning his head on his. "It would seem they have," he said in a broken voice. "I should have noticed. I broke out of Azkaban to save you from a stupid rat, and yet I didn't try to get closer to you." Sirius shook his head violently and covered his face with his hands. "Andi, please tell me you've got an antidote to hallucinogenics!" he yelled.

As though on cue, the woman in question stomped through floating two trays. One had the usual cake and coffee, the other was burdened with dozens of potions. "I didn't, but I just bought them off a trustworthy friend of mine at St Mungos through the floo. Same with everything else you guys will need."

"Which one is it, Andi?" Sirius said impatiently.

Rolling her eyes, Andromeda picked up a vial of lilac liquid and shoved it in his direction. "Antidote to hallucinogenics. Drink all of it, don't spit it out." She then shook her head in exasperation as Sirius downed it in one go. "I know Molly Weasley is rather talented in potions, but this is just ridiculous. Anyone can tell that having so many potions in one body for an extended time can have consequences!"

Harry, meanwhile, swapped sheets with Remus, leaving the werewolf with Sirius'. They seemed to be exactly the same, except for the hallucinogenic potion on Sirius'. Thus, Harry merely spent seconds on Remus' sheet before turning back to Sirius, who by now was completely cured of the hallucination inducer. The animagus turned to Harry, looking as though he hadn't seen him in a few years, an excited and blissful smile on his face. "Harry?" he whispered, staring at him.

"Yes, Sirius?" Harry replied, and suddenly found himself buried deep in Sirius' arms as the man wept. Held against the man's thin chest as tears soaked his hair, Harry felt comfortable but worried. "Sirius, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Harry. Not anymore. I hated it, Harry; every time you did something even remotely similar to James, you turned into him! I didn't know what was wrong; I thought maybe Azkaban had screwed me up worse than I thought, I never even considered…" he shook his head against Harry's scalp and pulled away slightly to look Harry in the eye. "Harry, now that I'm not a crazy bastard, I would like to reinstate that offer I made to you nearly two years ago. Harry, once we've been fully cured and I'm declared innocent, would you like to come and live with me?"

Harry grinned up at the tear-soaked face of his godfather. "Hell yes, Sirius!" As soon as he'd accepted, it seemed Sirius' already smiling face grew brighter, and moments later he found himself buried against the man's robes again.

They stayed like that for a while, not listening to Remus and Andromeda talking in the background until the woman created a loud banging noise with her wand. As they jumped and looked towards the source of the noise, Andromeda spoke up. "As much as I know you want to stay like that all day, I think you should take your potions first."

Two trays were slid toward them, Harry's with two more antidotes than Sirius'. As they downed them, Harry felt the last remaining shreds of trust towards the five people disappear, leaving him with a strong sense of betrayal.

* * *

><p>Dumbledore, as usual, arrived last for the Order meeting the next day ("Arrogant old cock," Sirius had muttered). Neither Remus nor Sirius could sense anything off about him, and they hoped this was a sign that he hadn't bothered checking any of the charms he'd placed on them.<p>

They had a plan for today. Before they left Andromeda's, they'd asked Harry to let them know what he 'just knew' about various members of the Order.

Harry had sensed that Mad-Eye's loyalty to Dumbledore came from some outside source rather than actually liking him. Aside from that, he was, for the most part, trustworthy.

Arthur Weasley was someone who would side with them, undoubtedly. He was trustworthy, and cared for Harry. However, due to an artificial love for Molly, if she went against them, he would as well.

Molly Weasley was greedy. She craved money, and actually cared very little for anyone else. She either approved or disapproved of people, and if she were to side with Harry, it would be for something he could give her. Not that they'd let her side with him.

Bill and Charlie had left home for a reason. They needed to get away from their mother, because the independent men had minds of their own. If they felt something was morally wrong, they would go against it.

Minerva McGonagall was fiercely loyal, especially to Dumbledore, but that was only because she was blind to his faults. Harry suspected even more loyalty potions were in use here.

Tonks meant well, but hadn't seen anything wrong with anyone at the table yet with the exception of Snape. However, if they proved to her what Dumbledore had put Harry through, she would side with them.

Snape was untrustworthy at best. He was certainly on the 'light' side, but cared little for others. Whether he would side with them or not was unknown, although they suspected he would join them, since Dumbledore obviously didn't trust him enough to brew the potions for Harry, Sirius and Remus.

Mundungus… was only there for the cash Dumbledore gave him.

At the beginning of the meeting, Remus offered drinks around. Much to his and Sirius' delight, both Dumbledore and Arthur asked for one, and Remus slipped a potion into those two drinks. Veritaserum for Dumbledore, an antidote to love potion for Arthur.

Much to their pleasure, the two men drank some straight away. They noticed Moody was looking at them weirdly, but seemed to understand when Dumbledore relaxed, his face went blank and his eyes glazed over, and Arthur looked at Molly as though she were the bane of his life. They could have sworn Moody had even chuckled when he got up and sat further away from her.

Everyone watched as Remus poked his head out of the room for a brief second. Moments later, they were joined by Harry Potter, who took to standing in between Sirius and Remus.

"What, pray tell, is going on?" Came Snape's bored voice.

Remus gave him a look to say he's an idiot as Sirius began the questioning. "What is your name?"

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore"

"What is your life ambition?"

"To be the famous leader of the light"

Molly shrieked. "You've got the headmaster under veritaserum! Give him the antidote!"

Arthur just glared at her.

"What do you know of Harry Potter's home life?" Sirius continued.

"His relatives hate him. They insult him all day, beat and rape him whenever they feel like, and loan him to paedophiles."

"Excuse me?" Snape asked staring at the headmaster as though he'd grown another head, while Remus looked torn between sobbing and screaming as he and his friend hugged Harry, Sirius crying into the teen's hair. Harry hadn't told them yet, although they'd had their suspicions about some aspects. "You told me he was a spoilt brat!"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I needed someone to keep him weak."

"Why did you need Harry weak?" Bill asked, dreading the answer.

"So he wouldn't question me"

"Why would I question you?" Harry asked from within Sirius' arms.

"I planned to have you weaken Voldemort in private, so that I could defeat him in public and gain all of the fame."

"You told me you were protecting him!" Snape yelled, standing up.

"Until the time was right."

"And when would that be?"

"When I cursed him into nothing but a hate filled being so he could be my next 'Dark Lord' to defeat"

"And how would you do that? Is that what you did to Voldemort?" Harry practically yelled.

"Yes. I found the curse while I was researching with Grindelwald," he then proceeded to recite a fairly long line of Latin.

"Did you use it on Grindelwald too?" Charlie asked, bewildered.

"Yes."

"Can you reverse it?"

"Yes."

"How do you reverse it?"

Dumbledore recited an even longer line of Latin.

Sirius finally raised his head up from where he had been breaking down in Harry's hair. "Who's the real Dark Lord, then?"

"Me"

"YES!" Moody bellowed, flinging his arms up in the air. Seeing everyone's expressions, he seemed to blush slightly. "He cursed me so I wouldn't be able to tell anyone about this, but now he's admitted it… I'M FREE!"

Remus withdrew his arms from around Sirius and Harry. "Who knows about this already?"

"Myself, Molly Weasley, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginerva Weasley and Voldemort."

"What do they have to do with it?"

"I pay Molly Weasley to be a mother figure to Harry Potter. I pay Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger to spy on Harry Potter and to keep him on the light side, for now. I signed an illegal marriage contract between Ginerva Weasley and Harry Potter a few hours after his parents died, and agreed to supply her with love potions for him. Voldemort knows because he is already under the curse."

"W-why would they want a marriage contract?" Harry whispered.

"So that Ginerva can become Lady Potter and gain the Weasleys full access to the Potter vaults at Gringotts."

Arthur's head snapped up. "Hang on, the Dumbledores aren't that wealthy. Where are you getting all of this money to pay… _them_ from?"

"The Potter vaults at Gringotts."

"WHAT!?" Harry and Sirius yelled.

"How on earth did you gain access to them?" Moody asked, obviously not knowing this part.

"I illegally became Harry Potter's magical guardian."

"What else are you using my money on?" Harry asked, trying not to let tears fall.

"Order funds, bribery, whores, paying Petunia and Vernon Dursley to keep you in their house, luxury furniture, socks and lemon drops."

Harry was sickened. This was his parents' money! "What else have you taken from my vaults?"

"The sword of Gryffindor, a sweet tray I use for my lemon drops, various paintings, various pieces of jewellery, an invisibility cloak which I have already returned with various tracking charms on it, and the chair in my office."

"ENOUGH," Molly screeched. "GIVE HIM THE ANTIDOTE TO THIS LIE POTION YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM!"

"I am afraid, Molly, that as a potions master I can clearly identify none other than Veritaserum in the headmaster's drink," Snape drawled. "Not only that, but there is no such thing as a Lie Potion."

"HE'S A LIGHT WIZARD! YOU CANNOT DENY IT! HE HAS A PHOENIX!"

"No." Everyone turned to Dumbledore. He _didn't _have a phoenix? "I bent Fawkes to my will with dark magic."

Harry clenched his teeth together. "What else have you taken from me, then?"

"Your childhood."

Mundungus snored loudly in the corner.

"What did you prevent me from getting or using?"

"Various magical abilities, your inheritance as the Potter, Peverell and Gryffindor Heir, knowledge of yourself-"

"Dumbledore, you're sickening," Snape exclaimed. "Have you ever truly cared for anyone's well-being as a human rather than a chess piece?"

"Only Ariana."

"Who's that, then?" Tonks asked.

"My sister."

"Crikey, what happened to her?"

"Either I, Gellert or Aberforth killed her. We know not whom"

"Why did you put a Lust Block on Harry and Sirius but not me?" Remus asked, hurt from yesterday showing up.

"As part of the deal, I couldn't have Harry gain an heir from any woman other than Ginerva Weasley. I couldn't let Black's attitude influence Potter, and I needed for him to feel alone. No one would be willing to bed a werewolf."

"Bigot!" Tonks screamed. She thought Remus was quite charming. "And here you are leading an organisation meant to go _against_ inequality!"

"Are there any other secrets you've kept from me?" Harry asked.

"I was going to arrange an accident to kill Sirius to get him out of my way later this year," Harry flinched and buried his face in Sirius' robes. "Afterwards, I was going to tell you a false prophecy that would make you believe that only you can kill Voldemort. I was not actually friends with your parents. The supposed Philosopher's Stone was placed in the school to test you. The Philosopher's Stone was never placed in the mirror; I hid it so I could use it myself. I actually hated you for killing the basilisk because I was hoping it would kill all of the mudbloods first. You didn't have to compete in the Triwizard Tournament, and when you found out I obliviated you so you could bring Voldemort back. I provided Dolores Umbridge with the blood quills she has been using in your detentions. I would sometimes call you up to my office to rape you and then obliviate you of the entire meeting," Sirius' grasp on Harry tightened. "I was going to give you some sob story about being afraid to see Voldemort in your eyes after Sirius' death."

"What do you know about my scar?"

"It was just a normal cut, but I performed a complicated imperius and cruciatus based curse on it so it would burn whenever you looked at or were close to Voldemort. I then altered it after you rescued Sirius in third year so it would burn when he feels strong emotions and be able to send you brief snippets of what he is seeing."

Harry briefly wondered how this hadn't shown up in Andromeda's scan. He decided that since it was meant to show spells placed on _him_, spells placed specifically on his _scar_ might not show.

Sirius' growling drew him from his thoughts. "How do we cure it?" Another long line of Latin followed.

"What were your plans for me this year?" Harry asked.

"The occlumency lessons with Snape were a lie. I asked him to essentially brain-rape you so your connection with Voldemort would strengthen and so that I could read you more easily during dinner."

Snape turned to Harry. "Worry not, Potter, now that I know what is really going on I wouldn't dream of it. I was only willing to do so anyway because I thought you were a spoiled, arrogant brat, and even then I was reluctant."

Harry nodded, smiling slightly. "Thanks, sir."

Silence filled the room until Sirius cleared his throat. "Anyone got any more questions?" When the silence carried on, he waved his wand and Dumbledore's wand was in his hand and he was unconscious, stupefied. He turned to Molly. "Anyone fancy questioning this fat lump, the spies and the slut?"

"I'll go get them," Minerva said, speaking up for the entire time this meeting. Everyone knew she was using it as an excuse to get her teary face cleaned up, but they didn't comment.

Meanwhile, in the corner, Mundungus woke up with a start. Seeing everyone's solemn expressions, he spoke up. "Whadd'I miss?"

* * *

><p>An hour later found various members of the Order, some children and a dog, lead by Moody, Kingsley and Tonks, levitating the unconscious and magically bound forms of three redheads, a brunette and an old man into the Ministry atrium. The strange procession caught the eyes of many, and the Minister was quickly brought to the scene.<p>

As Fudge shuffled over, completely out of breath, he stared at the group in bewilderment. "What the- Moody? What's going-"

"Minister," Moody began. "We have just arrived from the headquarters of The Order of The Phoenix. There, we learned that the Dark Lord isn't a Dark Lord and Dumbledore _is_ a Dark Lord."

The Minister's flabby chin wobbled as he opened and closed his mouth in confusion. "…EH?!"

At this point, Kingsley decided to butt in. "We have also learned from questioning Dumbledore under veritaserum that he placed you under a spell that would force you to never question Sirius Black's innocence." This was true; when the other's had explained to Dung what had happened, he asked if he had maybe bewitched the Minister into acting like a jerk before falling asleep again.

"I… That old tosh about Black being innocent is _true_?"

"Indeed."

Fudge stared at various members of the Order in shock. "Well, I… I'll set up a trial for the man, then… I suppose he doesn't object to the use of veritaserum?"

"Nope," Sirius said cheerfully as he transformed back into himself from his dog state. "In fact, I would love veritaserum. Makes sure no one can doubt me."

Fudge smiled nervously at the man. "Er, hello, Mr Black. Would one of your auror friends here escort you to a holding cell to await trial?"

Sirius shrugged. "Yeah, sure. So long as I _get _a trial," he then turned to grin at Harry. "However, I would appreciate it if you were to arrange it as soon as possible. Dumbledore did stuff to me that made me unwilling to get to know my lovely godson before now."

"Well, if it makes you happy," Fudge shrugged, thinking of the good publicity. He wouldn't even be blamed for slander, because he was bewitched! Speaking of… "Although, I would appreciate it if someone were to remove any spells that old man placed on me."

"Coming right up, Minister," Andromeda Tonks said as she came forward from the back of the group. Casting the same charms as she had on the two dogs and the bird, she started explaining things to him. "Diagnostics charms, sir, one for blocks and spells, the other for potions. You don't seem to be under the effects of any potions, but there are two spells on you that make you refuse to acknowledge Voldemort's return and Sirius Black's innocence. Well, there were, but I removed the latter as soon as I saw you."

The man smiled. "Oh, well, thank you miss…?"

"Tonks."

"Thank you Miss Tonks," said Fudge, straightening his robes. "Do you think you could remove the other for me as well?"

She flicked her wand and muttered something. "All done, sir."

Grinning, Fudge turned to a group of aurors nearby. "You lot! Send these levitated bunch to the most secure holding cells we have to await trial. Place them under magic suppression cuffs-"

"Already done, Minister." Kingsley interrupted.

"Oh, good job, Shacklebolt. I'll see you promoted," Fudge exclaimed, and Kingsley gave Moody a smug look. Moody returned a look of disgust. "Anyway, uh, Miss Tonks, have you checked them for spells and whatsit?"

"Done, all came up negative, Minister."

"Good," the man smirked. "Take them away, boys! No detours, straight to the holding cells, where you shall lock them up with your best locks and walls and stuff, in the worst conditions. Because I hate them. I'll try and get them trials as soon as possible, starting with Mr Black."

An auror came forward. "Minister, if it's not any trouble, you could have Mr Black's trial at the Wizengamot session in half an hour?"

"Good lad!" Fudge shouted, patting the auror on the back. The female auror, who was scowling. "I'll see you promoted." The scowl softened slightly.

And thus, the fun began.

* * *

><p>Sirius' trial took a mere half an hour, and the Wizengamot spent the rest of the day going through the others'. During that time, Snape performed the counter-curse on Voldemort while he wasn't looking, and assuring him that Dumbledore was having his trial under veritaserum as they spoke, brought him to the Ministry.<p>

Then, the horcruxes he'd made under the spell were revealed, and the Order gathered them from where they were hidden with the help of some goblins and Gringotts curse-breakers. A ritual was then performed to return the soul pieces to Tom Riddle's body, returning it to a human state. Older, but human.

Riddle's trial was last, ending early in the morning. The Wizengamot had been desperate to get everything sorted, it seemed, and as soon as he was cleared due to having been put under a powerful – and now Unforgivable – spell, he had approached the families of his and his Death Eaters' victims to offer apologies for their losses, especially Harry. They hadn't blamed him; not only was the curse powerful, but it was cast by a powerful wizard with the Elder Wand of all things.

Sirius was granted custody of Harry as soon as his treatment from the Dursleys was revealed, and their joint trial took place the next day at noon. Naturally, they had screeched about how Harry had deserved it, and Sirius, sitting in his Wizengamot seat, had been glad that he hadn't let Harry come. Once the initial excitement of Sirius' freedom was over, the previously blocked memories seemed to come back to him, leaving him rather depressed. Hearing this would have set his healing back.

Normally, Sirius would have asked Remus to attend the trial as proxy while he took care of Harry. However, Remus' status as a werewolf meant he couldn't, so he had been forced to attend the short trial himself.

The goblins, who, like Moody, had been cursed into silence, were all too happy to empty Dumbledore's vault into Harry's. It didn't hold anywhere near as much as he had stolen, but it was a start. His brother, Aberforth, didn't care either; they'd split vaults not long after Ariana's murder, due to them blaming each other.

"Right arse, he was," Aberforth had said to Harry after his brother's trial. "Always said he knew better than anyone else, the pompous bastard. Never listened. Feel free to nick the tosser's vault, by the way; I got me own, and I don't want stolen money. Wondered where he got it from…"

Vaults under the names of Molly Prewitt, Ronald Prewitt, and Ginerva Prewitt were also revealed. The last remnants of the Prewitt family had no knowledge of this, and opening them revealed a large sum of gold stolen from Harry's vaults, plus interest. With this, a good half of Harry's money was recovered. Then, after the Dursleys' arrest, the goblins managed to cease an automatic transfer system from Harry's vault to the Dursleys' bank account. This was where they had gained the money to give Dudley over three-thousand pounds worth of birthday presents each year.

Not much was recovered from that vault, but due to Marge Dursley's crimes against Harry, the goblins' search was extended to there. As she was also stuck in Azkaban now, all of her money was given to Harry as compensation, including the money from the Dursley houses they sold, but that was nothing compared to what was left.

From there, it was revealed that the author of the famous Harry Potter Adventure Books was none other than Gilderoy Lockhart. Added to the money returned from the company, due to them not having legal permission to write about him, was some of Lockhart's money from his vault. The blonde girl Harry had found him with had yet to be identified, but Hogwarts students from his time there were being checked for memory charms, and those found to have been violated against him would be given compensation from his vault. They couldn't ask the offender though, unfortunately, as he had no memory.

The money from Lockhart had left Harry with a mostly returned to full-size fortune, but there was still a good chunk missing. There was nothing they could do about it, though, as it had all been spent on products from innocent bystanders.

However, the goblins had performed a ritual that returned all Potter belongings that were not in their rightful place, or had been tampered with, to a side-vault. From there, a long and tedious sorting, checking and double checking session had commenced, and it took a week for the goblins to get everything back to normal. The invisibility cloak was returned quickly with the charms removed, the goblins knowing it to be one of the most treasured heirlooms in the family.

Now, Harry, Sirius and Remus were living in a small house in Northern England that Harry owned. They had placed it under the fidelius with Sirius as secret keeper straight away, and very few knew the location. Andromeda had visited not long after they'd moved in, and had performed physical diagnostics charms on Harry and Sirius. She'd then confined Harry to bed rest for a day to let skele-gro work its wonders on bones that hadn't healed properly. They were both on a very nasty potions regimen designed to counter malnutrition – although surprisingly Sirius was a lot better than Harry, considering he'd been living on rats until half a year ago – and Sirius was given a very odd potion added to the mix to help counter the Dementors' effects, including unblock memories the Dementors had suppressed from him. Andromeda hadn't been able to help with that previously, as the potion took a few hours to brew and wasn't in the general St Mungos stock.

The potions used on Harry and Sirius were mostly provided by Madam Pomfrey and Snape, saying the school should pay for some of their treatment, given how it was their headmaster's fault. This was under permission of the new headmistress, Professor McGonagall. Umbridge hadn't been there to contest the other teachers' decision, thankfully, since she's been revealed to be the one who sent Dementors after him that summer. Combined with the blood quill, and she had a long stay in Azkaban ahead of her.

But despite all this, Sirius couldn't help but notice that his godson was slowly retreating into depression. He'd tried to talk to him, but he'd just said he's fine, so Sirius had tried to comfort him by showing him how much he cared. But no matter how many hugs, or kisses on the forehead he gave him, he just kept getting worse. It had got to the point where he'd been confronted by Remus earlier that day, nine days since they'd drugged Dumbledore and two days until Christmas.

"Sirius, we really need to help Harry," Remus had said as Sirius stared sadly into the fire in the living room.

"Don't you think I've tried?" Sirius had replied, voice cracked from worry. "He just keeps saying he's fine, Remus! I've tried to show him I care, but-"

"It's worse than you think, Sirius," Remus had interrupted. "Sirius, do you know what I smelt when I walked past Harry's room right now?"

Sirius had stared at him incredulously. "What?"

"Blood."

That statement had almost broken Sirius completely. His little pup was hurting himself, and he had no idea what to do about it. Neither did Remus; Harry just wouldn't respond with anything but 'I'm fine'. Not for the first time, Sirius was glad that Minerva had given Harry leave to study for his OWLs at home and take them with all the home-schooled students in the summer.

Thus was why Sirius was currently knocking on Harry's door, a mere hour after Remus had broken the news to him.

"Harry?" he called as he knocked. "Harry, it's Sirius. Can I come in?" The lack of response he received bothered him to say the least, but he decided to take it as a 'go ahead, I'm not against the idea but not liking it.'

Inside the room, Harry was lying on his side on the bed, staring at the wall. He didn't even move when Sirius sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand in his. "Harry?" he asked, but he gained no response. "Harry, it's Sirius. Please tell me what's wrong, puppy, I only want to help."

When Harry remained silent, Sirius felt silent tears fall down his cheeks, and he drew Harry's hand closer to him. "Please, Harry. You and Remus are all that matter to me. I can't lose you to this," he said, gesturing towards how he was staring at nothing. "Come on, Harry. I might not understand, but it's too painful seeing you like this, puppy."

Silence stretched through the room, interrupted only by Sirius' occasional sniffing. Harry just stared at the wall with the same sad look on his face as he'd had the entire time. If it weren't for the fact that he was breathing, and his hand was warm, Sirius would have worried he was dead. Finally, when the silence became too much, Sirius broke down.

Feeling a large amount of tears filling his eyes, Sirius trembled as his breathing became heavy and uneven. Finally, he let out a strangled sob as he lay down in front of his godson and gathered him to his chest tightly, sobbing freely into his jet black hair. Why had this happened? Why couldn't that stupid old man just let Harry live his life the way it should have been? That bastard had got Lily and James killed, and even that wasn't enough! He had to send Sirius to Azkaban while a bunch of hideous muggles tortured his baby godson. If he'd known this would happen, he would have killed Dumbledore before he had a chance! And now his godson was all broken up, and he _didn't know why_!

Even once he'd calmed down, Sirius held his godson close. He felt like he'd lose him if he didn't, so he took comfort in the fact that he could feel him there. It wasn't good enough, though; he needed him to be happy, and for that to happen, he needed to know what was wrong so he could help him.

As Sirius felt another wave of tears approaching, a small sound from the thin boy in his arms caught his attention. Joy spread through him at the sound of his voice, but he didn't understand what he'd said; it was too quiet. "What was that, Harry?" he asked gently.

"Uncle Vernon always called me things," Harry whispered, and even though Sirius couldn't see the boy's face, he could hear the sadness in the voice. "Freak, nuisance, waste of space, abomination, ugly, lazy, useless, freak of nature, toy, w-whore…" he broke off, and Sirius felt the teenager's shoulder's shake slightly as he began to cry. "I always told myself he was wrong, but I just can't help but feel that maybe he was right. Maybe I shouldn't be here. Maybe you two would rather I just left."

Sirius stifled a cry and gently moved Harry's head so their teary eyes could meet. "You're none of those things, puppy," Sirius began, his breathing uneven again. "Vernon is the freak, because he did all of those horrible things to an innocent child. You're not a nuisance or a waste of space; I _want_ you living with me, Harry," To make a point, he pulled him closer to him, if that was even possible. "Vernon is the one who is ugly and an abomination. You're a handsome boy, Harry; your father was literally the most handsome boy in the school while he was there, and the only physical thing you didn't inherit from him is your eyes, which were one of Lily's most captivating features. If anything, I'd say you're going to be even more handsome than your dad within the next few years," he said with a wet smile.

"If you're anything, Harry, it isn't lazy. I know your low grades came from the Intelligence Dampener and the habits you picked up at the Dursleys. Now those abominable blocks are gone, you've got that same intelligent glint in your eyes that Lily had. You know how clever she was," he paused, stroking his godson's messy hair. "You're anything but useless in my eyes, Harry. You're _my_ godson; you will always mean something big to me. I care for you as much as Lily and James did, puppy, and you mean the world to me. And if that's not enough, you saved me from the Dementors!" he gave him a grin, one that Remus had told him could sometimes be seen on Harry's face, even before they'd met. "If it weren't for you, I'd be worse than dead. As it is, I'm right here, and I am extremely scared for you," he took a deep breath as he reached the worst of the insults. When he spoke again, his voice was trembling. "As for those last two, Harry, no one will ever use you like that again if I have anything to say about it. And if anyone dares even think about calling you that, I will murder them personally. What those… _people_ did to you, Harry, was completely unforgivable. I'd rather be tortured for the rest of my life than have you face anything like that again."

When he'd finished, Sirius realised he was crying again. But he didn't care. As Harry stared up at him with wide green eyes, the boy whispered "Why do you care so much?"

Sirius' lip trembled from holding back a sob. Harry may have the ability to 'just know', but he couldn't tell that much about people. He could tell where people's loyalties lay, and if the loyalty was caused by a potion or something, he could tell, but otherwise he was blind as to why people were trustworthy or not. They'd had to infer things from what little Harry had been able to give them about the Order members, and it was how they'd found out about Arthur being on Love Potions.

Fighting the urge to break down, Sirius made sure they had eye contact. "Harry, I love you. I have never planned on having kids of my own, and to be fair, I still don't intend to. I don't need to, because you might as well be my own. I felt that way when I first met you, and those feelings came back when those stupid potions were countered. I'm never going to abandon you, Harry."

Upon hearing this, Harry broke down, still staring Sirius in the eye, and Sirius, with a smile, allowed himself to as well. He buried Harry's head against his chest again and once again wept in his hair. He knew Harry had never heard anyone tell him that before, and Sirius knew the feeling. The people he'd lived with hadn't loved him either, after all. When you first hear it after all those years, you do tend to break down.

But Sirius knew, in that moment, that Harry would be getting better. And he'd help him all the way.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: As to the comment that I didn't sort a lot of things out properly here, well... I blame the goblins. And my own idiocy. I'm cutting the nicking of the child-loaners' stuff out.

As for Hermione... To my shame, I will admit I completely forgot about her. I'm used to her being nice. *Sheepish face* And the laws and stuff... er, well... let's just say I completely avoid any mention of how law works because it freezes my brain. Yeah. If you try to explain rocket science to me, I'll get it to an extent. Law? Kill me first. Let's just blame the goblins' slyness, shall we?

Now I understand why people keep following complete stories with only one chapter. God dammit. *Smashes head into keyboard*


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